


Rough Day, Soft Night

by matchamaxi



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Not Beta Read, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29711844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matchamaxi/pseuds/matchamaxi
Summary: In which Kaoru has an awful day and Kojiro somehow always makes things better.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 15
Kudos: 383





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some simple tooth-rotting fluff because im a soft boy and I want them to have cute domestic life together behind the scenes

Kojiro hadn't been expecting his friend's arrival. Usually Kaoru called or texted him before he came by, something about thinking it rude to show up unannounced, but today was different. Kaoru showed up completely unannounced after closing, letting himself in as the rain outside threatened to drown him if he didn't find shelter soon. 

Kojiro happened to be standing at the counter, wiping down the surfaces one last time before he ended his day. He noticed his friends arrival easily, whether from his irritated muttering or the bell dinging over the door, Kaoru's presence was noticed. Kojiro watched his friend's soaked body stand just inside the door, trembling and obviously cold. 

"Dude, where the fuck is your umbrella?" Kojiro asked, already exiting the space behind the bar. Kaoru sighed as he met his gaze, and Kojiro finally noticed the defeated look on Kaoru's face the closer he got. That in and of itself was strange, but nothing compared to how Kaoru sat his board, Carla, off to the side and reached up to attempt to rub the water off his face and out of his eyes. He struggled with the bangs plastered to his face, looking up when Kojiro's heavy hands found his shoulders.

"Unfortunately, I didn't bring one. Obviously." There was no real bite to his friend's words as Kaoru drops his arms to his sides. In fact, Koaru just sounded tired. Overwhelmingly tired, Kojiro noted. 

"Go upstairs and get a shower before you get sick. Did you not see they started calling for rain or something?" Kojiro asked, locking the door behind Kaoru and shifting to gesture towards the stairs. 

"It was a ten percent chance of rain, who brings an umbrella for a ten percent chance of rain! But like everything else today, the rain decided to have its way with me, too." Koaru started towards the stairs, shaking his wet head as Kojiro followed behind him with the mop. "It'd be nice if life could take me to dinner before it tries to fuck me. Just once." Kaoru grumbled, earning a stiffled laugh from Kojiro as he followed the wet snail trail up the staircase until they reached the bathroom door. 

"Not happening. We'll talk about it later. I'll bring you some dry clothes in a minute. Have you eaten yet today?" Kojiro asked, watching as Kaoru's head dropped and thunked weakly against the closed bathroom door. 

"No." 

"And why not?"

"… I forgot my food at home." At Kojiro's expectant silence, he grumbled another reply. "And I dropped the takeout I tried to replace it with as a last resort." Kojiro patted his shoulder gently, shaking his head as he watched Kaoru look back at him. 

"Don't worry. I can fix that, too, pretty boy. Now go, you get sick easy." Kojiro gave him a small nudge, watching as Kaoru nodded and shut himself into the bathroom. When he heard the shower water start, he moved back downstairs to put the mop away. 

His apartment upstairs might not be much, but it was comfortable, at least. Kojiro grabbed a pair of towels and a set of warm, dry clothes from his closet. He sat both inside the bathroom on the counter, pulling the door back closed behind him. He and Kaoru may have known each other for ages, and may be a pair, but he knew Kaoru valued his privacy. So instead of teasing, he opted to start cooking something for him. 

Kaoru had a very particular palette when it came to food. Certain textures made his skin crawl, certain tastes made him shrink away from his plate altogether. Kojiro knew these things well, thankfully. So cooking for him was easy, at least to him. 

Kojiro's cooking seemed to draw his childhood friend out faster, his usually long shower ending a few minutes earlier than it typically did. He heard the soft footsteps treading across the hardwood floor, feeling soft, scrawny arms wrap around his waist as Kaoru pressed his face against Kojiro's back. A soft sigh left him, and Kojiro smiled as he stirred the pot in front of him. 

"What're you cooking?" Kaoru asked, muffled by the shirt before he lifted his head and tried to peer over Kojiro's shoulder. In the end, he huffed and settled for listening, his arms hesitant to leave Kojiro's waist. 

"You've had a bad day, so I thought I'd make some of your favorite comfort food. Its raining, too, so I settled on Jibuni." As he explained, Kojiro added a little bit more chicken to the pot full of vegetables and tofu. Kaoru's attention seemed to be grabbed immediately, as he shifted to move to Kojiro's side and watch the cooking process. 

"So that's why it smells so good already." Kaoru could have started drooling from the smell filling Kojiro's apartment. Kojiro laughed as he watched Kaoru start grabbing a bowl from the cabinet beside the stove, Kojiro's baggy shirt hanging off his tiny frame and making him look much smaller than he actually was. "What?"

"You look adorable, tech-deck. My shirt makes you look so small." Kojiro teased, nudging Kaoru with his hip as his friend sat the two bowls on the countertop. Kaoru rolled his eyes, setting to finding the utensils out of Kojiro's messy top drawer. 

"Shut up, you big buffoon. Not my fault you're built like an oil tanker in a crop jacket." Kaoru mumbled, but the small smile on his lips gave him away too easily. Kojiro was already making serious progress on putting a positive spin to his shitty day, and that was good enough for him. "Speaking of tech-decks-"

"Don't worry, I plugged her in before I started cooking. She'll be roaring and ready to go by in the morning." Kojiro watched the last remnants of tension melt from Kaoru's shoulders then. Kojiro watched as Kaoru held up two pairs of chopsticks triumphantly. 

"Ha! Found them!" Kaoru sat the wooden utensils down on the counter, turning his gaze to Kojiro as he pushed the drawer closed. "You should really organize this one day. It's all a big mess." He complained, watching as Kojiro turned the stove off and moved to start dividing up the food between the two bowls on the counter. 

"Yeah, yeah. It's hard to keep two different kitchens organized, okay?" Kojiro stuck his tongue out at his friend, laughing as Kaoru swatted at him playfully. "Hey! Careful, I have a hot pan here!" He grinned, chuckling to himself as he sat the pot on the backburner to cool off over time. "You wanna eat in the kitchen or on the couch?" 

Kojiro watched as Kaoru weighed the options, looking back at him when he made his choice. Wordlessly, he swiped his bowl and chopsticks and made his way towards the couch. Kojiro snorted and followed, amused at Kaoru's lack of proper mealtime behavior. Then again, he didn't much feel like sitting at the table tonight either. Not when the couch was primed and ready with blankets, and Kaoru looked like he needed a good cuddle.

Kaoru sat down and let Kojiro do the same before he tucked himself against his partner's side, already eating as Kojiro flipped on the TV and scrolled through his list. There were any number of things to choose from, and he finally settled on a show about some rightly furious British chef screaming at restaurant owners that seemed to be begging for natural selection to shut them down already. Kojiro started stuffing his face as they watched, and soon enough both bowls of hearty comfort food were emptied and resting contently on the coffee table. 

Kaoru was tucked comfortably under Kojiro's arm by that point, having tugged a blanket around himself and fussed at Kojiro until the bigger man agreed to cuddle up under the soft fleece with him. He didn't mind, Kaoru was always in need of physical attention, and Kojiro was thankfully a good cuddler. 

"Thank you." Kaoru finally muttered, sleep hanging heavy in the back of his head as he felt himself lean more against Kojiro's side. His partner was always so warm, he couldn't help but feel a little sleepy like this. 

"For what?" Kojiro asked, gently bumping his nose against the top of Kaoru's head affectionately. Kaoru looked up at him with half closed eyes, a yawn cutting off his sentence before he continued. 

"For making my day better. Doesn't matter how bad a day it is, you always seem to swoop right in and make it all feel worth it." Honesty was a cute look on his partner, Kojiro decided. He smiled as he pressed a kiss to Kaoru's forehead, stealing a proper one from his lips immediately after. 

"Not so bad for a big hulking gorilla, huh?" He laughed quietly, amused when Kaoru patted his chest and smiled back. The first full smile of the night, and it still made Kojiro's heart do cartwheels inside his chest. 

"Not bad for a gorilla. Not bad at all." Kaoru offered, leaning his head back against Kojiro's shoulder as Kojiro gave his arm an affectionate squeeze from where it rested around his shoulders. A soft hum escaped his sleepy partner, and Kojiro knew exactly what it meant as Kaoru's full weight leaned against him shortly after.

"Love you, too, tech-deck. Sweet dreams."


	2. Sickness and Soulmates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kaoru gets sick, and Kojiro is proper Husband Material.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More silly, soft, cute business for the matchablossom fans!

Kojiro woke up to the sound of grumbling, his eyes struggling to crack open as he heard the rustling that leeched out from the bathroom down the hall. Stretching his arms out, he yawned as he turned his stiff neck this way and that, finding he'd fallen asleep on the couch again. As his eyes managed to focus, and he worked the soreness out of his neck, his memory started to come back to him.

Disturbed blankets on the floor and couch next to him, the empty bowls on the coffee table, and the sound of Kaoru grumbling brought him back to the present. With a small huff, he pushed himself up off the couch and stretched his legs, striding his way towards the bathroom to see what was causing Kaoru to fuss so much. 

Upon pushing the door open, he figured things out pretty quickly. Standing there in the bathroom, digging through his medicine cabinet, was his boyfriend. Kaoru looked ridiculous wrapped up in a blanket, trying to read the labels of different bottles without his glasses that Kojiro remembered seeing briefly on the coffee table. He leaned against the door, watching his partner until a rather violent cold chill and a sneeze shook Kaoru's entire body. 

"Uh-huh. I knew you'd end up sick." Kojiro finally spoke, voice rough and groggy from having just woken up. Kaoru jumped slightly at the sudden voice, but settled down easily when he registered it was just Kojiro. He hummed and shook his head, shuffling over to his boyfriend and thumping his chest with an empty medicine bottle. 

"I'm not sick, you lumbering ape. Just cold." Kojiro took the empty bottle in his hand, reading over its former contents before he laughed at Kaoru's nasally voice. Clearly he had thought his congestion wouldn't be a dead give away about his current situation.

"I guess I forgot to refill the cold medicine from the last time your lanky ass got sick." Kojiro teased, watching as Kaoru glared at him. Or was he just squinting because he didn't have his glasses? Either way, Kojiro clicked his tongue and reached out to brush hair out of his partner's face. "Alright. You go lay down in the bed, I'm going to make a quick run to the store for medicine and then I'm spending the day taking care of you." 

"You've got work." Kaoru poked his finger against one well-shaped pec, accusing as he drew back to cross his arms under the blanket draped around his shoulders. 

"I can afford to take a day off to make sure you're actually getting some rest." Kojiro argued, grinning when Kaoru huffed and looked away from him. His face looked pinker than usual, and Kojiro decided to chalk it up to both a blush and catching a fever. Luckily for him, Kaoru seemed to already lack the energy to argue much more. With a defeated pout, Kaoru left the bathroom and made for the bedroom. 

Kojiro followed behind, watching as Kaoru shuffled to the bed and climbed in, fussing over the state of his sheets and pillows as he moved things around to his liking. He looked up when he heard his boyfriend snickering. 

"Shut it. If you're going to make me rest, I'm doing it to my liking." Kaoru defended, returning to making the bed as comfortable for himself as he could. It wasn't hard, given Kojiro was always prepared for a surprise visit from his partner, even if they had yet to start living together. Kojiro chuckled as he moved over to the closet to dig out some fresh clothes for himself. 

"Alright, fair enough. I'll run to the store after a quick shower. I didn't get to take one last night because a certain someone fell asleep on me." He teased, peering over his shoulder at Kaoru, who had tucked himself against the mass of pillows and the headboard. He pulled the comforter over his lap, huffing in response to Kojiro's apparent rudeness. 

"Not my fault. Your stupid comfort food made me sleepy." Kaoru grumbled, leaning back against the pillows as he fought to stop shivering. Even covered in blankets, he could still feel the cold seeping into his bones somehow. Kojiro shook his head and smiled as be collected his clothes and headed back to the door, pausing in the doorway to look back at his boyfriend.

"If my comfort food is so stupid, then you could always fend for yourself." He offered, watching as Kaoru's eyes widened in horror. 

"Absolutely not! I said it was stupid, not bad." Kaoru's shocked face made Kojiro laugh, his eyes squeezing shut as his shoulders shook with the force of his laughter while he walked out towards the bathroom. 

"Yeah, I thought so!" Kojiro called back, pushing the bathroom door closed after. He showered pretty quick, not having to wait too long on the luxury of conditioning his hair like a certain someone with horribly long hair. Not that Kojiro was complaining, he always did love how long and soft Kaoru's hair was. As he finished up and dressed, he left the bathroom and swung back by the bedroom. 

Kojiro found his boyfriend tucked into even more blankets, Kojiro's laptop on his lap as he watched something. Kojiro didn't know what it was exactly, but he recognized the sound of people talking about antiques and "calling in their buddy to make sure it's real." 

"Alright, baby. I'm about to run to the store for your medicine, do you want me to pick up anything else?" He questioned, crossing the distance to the bed and leaning down to give Kaoru a quick kiss. Instead, he met the palm of his partner's hand.

"Are you trying to get sick, too?" Kaoru huffed, sniffling as he glared up at Kojiro, hand still against his partner's mouth. He could feel Kojiro smiling against his palm, the sparkle in his eyes eventually making him yield and let Kojiro kiss him properly once. 

"I'm not going to get sick, Kaoru. Unlike you, I've got an iron immune system." Kojiro bragged, patting his chest with one of his hands as Kaoru rolled his eyes.

"Probably from how much dirt you ate growing up…" Kaoru grumbled, the corners of his mouth twitching up into the tiniest smile. He watched at Kojiro crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at him, turning on his heel to head towards the door. 

"Oh, can it, would you? I'll be home soon, don't let me catch you running around the house. Got it? You need to rest." He heard a tired sigh and figured that was as good of an answer as he would get for now. Kojiro grabbed his wallet and set out to town, leaving Kaoru in the comfort of his warm little apartment and trusting that he knew well enough not to go messing around when he was already sick. 

Kojiro's long strides made quick work of walking to the store a few blocks down, and as he entered, he heard his phone ding. He checked his messages as he walked to the medicine section, laughing as he saw his partner's name on the screen. 

_"Snacks."_ Just a few moments later, another. _"Strawberry flavored snacks."_ And one more, shorter and definitely sweeter than the last. _" <3"_

As Kojiro read the messages, he couldn't help but smile. He sent a quick okay message, putting his phone back in his pocket before he scanned the shelf in front of him. His eyes finally landed on the right medicine and he picked up a box from the shelf, then a second as he considered Kaoru's habit to stay sniffling and cold an extra week after the initial symptoms were gone. 

Kojiro went a few aisles down then, knowing full well exactly what kind of snacks Kaoru wanted. They definitely weren't going to taste right if he was all sort of congested like he sounded, but he'd do it for him regardless. A bag of strawberry corn puffs here, a pack of strawberry Kit-Kats there, and he certainly couldn't forget those awfully textured, prepackaged strawberry mochi he loved so much. Kojiro personally hated them, and much preferred the matcha flavored versions of everything else, but Kaoru liked them enough so he went ahead and balanced them on top of his small stack of things. 

Regretting every second of his decision not to go back for a basket to carry everything, Kojiro made his way to the checkout and paid for the items. Bagging everything up, he left the store and made his way back home. Making it through the process of having to shoo away a handful of people lingering outside the restaurant doors, informing them gently that he was closed for the day for personal matters, he entered the restaurant portion of his building and locked the doors behind him before setting off upstairs. 

He heard the shower running as he ascended the stairs, stopping by the door to tap three times against the wood. When he heard a weak little response, he already pieced together what happened. Shaking his head, he sat the bag on the table and fired up the stove while he waited. Kaoru would need something bland and easy to stomach before he was allowed to eat his other sugary snacks, so he started making a small pot of only slightly watered down rice soup. In the process, he tossed in a few pickled plums, shaking his head as he knew he'd have to fight Kaoru to try to get him to eat it like always. Kaoru hated the taste, and he'd fight him on it every time, but he couldn't deny the effectiveness. 

When he heard the shower turn off, he started pouring the sticky looking substance into a bowl. Kojiro couldn't help but gag himself at the sight. It looked awful no matter how you made it, and it wasn't exactly very friendly to the tastebuds, but he wouldn't hesitate to eat the stuff when he got sick either. He sat the pot down, and heard Kaoru walking into the kitchen. Looking up, he saw Kaoru look at him, then the bowl in his hand, and then back to him. Kaoru took one step to the side, and Kojiro kept eye contact as he sat the bowl down. 

"Is that what I think it is." Kaoru narrowed his eyes, clearly unwell as he sniffled and frowned. Kojiro didn't answer, already anticipating Kaoru next move. At his silence, Kaoru's eyes widened just slightly, and he bolted. "No! Not this time!" Kojiro sprang into action, sprinting after Kaoru who ducked into the bedroom and pushed the door closed. Kojiro tried the knob, only to find Kaoru holding it from the other side. 

"Kaoru Sakurayashiki, open this door!" He frowned, hearing the thump of Kaoru putting his weight against the door. Of course, if he really wanted, Kojiro could get in there. He just preferred not to break his own bedroom door. "I mean it, Kaoru! You do this every time you get sick!"

"I'm not eating that! I don't care how sick I am!" Kaoru squeaked in response, sounding a bit worse for wear given the running had made his stomach turn the worst way. "Just make some toast or something!" He demanded, glaring at the door as if Kojiro could even see him. He couldn't, but he could feel the glare through the wood regardless.

"Kaoru, just slurp it down once and you don't have to eat it again until the next time you get sick. You know I only make it if I think you need it!" Kojiro argued, hearing the sound of Kaoru coughing behind the door into his borrowed shirt's sleeve. He took his chance and pushed the door open, laughing at the surprised squawk that left his boyfriend when he was ambushed so cruelly. Kojiro snatched him up by the waist, ignoring the weak hands patting at his back trying to get him to let go as Kaoru's feet left the ground. 

"No! Put me down, you big baboon!" Kaoru cried, his wet hair sticking to his face ad Kojiro carried him to the kitchen and sat him down in the chair gently. The hand on his shoulder kept him in place, and definitely not the fact that he felt incredibly weak and awful. "Oh, fine! Just… make sure I can chase it down with water or something." Kaoru finally relented, his shoulders dropping as he leaned against the back of the chair.

"Of course, baby. And then you can have your snacks a little bit after it's had time to settle in your stomach, alright?" Kojiro offered, sitting the bowl of rice soup in front of his boyfriend. He made sure to grab a can of soda, at least allowing Kaoru that much relief for after drinking down the bowl of soup. He watched as Kaoru poked at the watery and yet somehow still thick substance with a chopstick, sitting the soda can down next to the bowl for him. "Just get it over with and then you're done, sweetheart."

"Oh, for fucks sake, you put the plums in it this time, too…" Kaoru closed his eyes, a silent prayer, before he lifted the bowl to his lips and started to slurp down the contents. Kojiro watched as the goosebumps popped up along his boyfriend's arms, and Kaoru put the bowl back down once it was done, face scrunched as he flapped his hands for a moment, flailing for the can of soda and cracking it open to sip and chase the texture away. Kojiro rubbed small circles between Kaoru's shoulders, smiling as he watched Kaoru finally relax and breathe once the deed was done. 

"Way to go, tech-deck! Not a drop left." Kojiro praised, earning a huff and a pout as he took the empty bowl away and put it in the sink with the other dishes that still needed to be done. 

"That never gets any easier." Kaoru finally said, still occasionally sipping at his can of soda. Kojiro knew first hand that the texture would last until that full soda can was gone, and he almost felt bad for it. But he knew it would help, so he tried not to feel too bad. 

"Nope, but you can't say it doesn't knock the sick out of you fast." Kojiro reasoned, walking back over and moving wet strands of hair out of Kaoru's face. "I picked up your snacks and medicine, but I'll give you the actual medicine later once I'm sure you can keep something down." Kaoru nodded, leaning his head forward against Kojiro's chest. One heavy hand rested on his back, rubbing in warm circles as he comforted his sick boyfriend. 

"I feel like total shit. But at least I have you to take care of me." Kaoru mumbled, moving to look up at Kojiro with those tired, yet very loving, eyes. Kojiro smiled, pressing a kiss to Kaoru's forehead. 

"You sure do. Don't worry, you're the only one that gets the full Husband Material experience." Kojiro joked, earning a weak punch to the pec and a smile from Kaoru. 

"Good. You know I'm not above fighting someone if it means I get to keep you." Kaoru warned, lifting his arms into the air. Kojiro took the hint, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist and lifting him up to carry off to the bedroom. He grabbed the bag of snacks in his extra hand as Kaoru held onto his soda, and he carried him off to be tucked back down in bed. 

"Trust me, I know. You're the real delinquent here, always have been. That pretty face is to throw people off their guard." Kojiro laughed, climbing up into the bed and settling down against the pillows, letting Kaoru tuck himself up against his side. It took a moment of fidgeting around and pulling blankets here and there, and using Kojiro's lap as a laptop holder, but the two of them finally got comfortable and settled in easily. 

"Damn right it is. Now hush, I'm trying to watch Pawn Stars." 

"Ugh, noooo-"

"Kojiro, you made me sit through two hours of Kitchen Nightmares last night while we were eating. Shut up." He had a point. With a huff, Kojiro settled back and let Kaoru watch his shows. At least he was feeling good enough to cuddle and make playful jabs at him. 

Kojiro found himself smiling as he listened to Kaoru comment on things about the show, comfortable as he ran his hand up and down his boyfriend's arm. He didn't mind being a caretaker every now and then, not for Kaoru.


End file.
